With the market evolving consistently, the automotive industry is undergoing major technological advancements. Cut-throat competition and developments in the field of technology are driving the force of innovation for this industry in the market.
And, the automotive industry has always been in the limelight for being swift in adopting any new technology that hits the market ground. One such technological breakthrough is the concept of public cloud computing.
Cloud computing, be it private cloud computing or public cloud computing, has led to drastic changes in operations of different industries by bringing innovation and business continuity efficiently. Not only the digital revolution but also the smart revolution worked hand in hand to make public cloud computing a solution that is both cost-effective and simple to use.
This one aspect is quite evident in almost every field be it Smart devices or management of huge operations in a manufacturing unit.
It has been a while now that there has been a never-ending debate about the utilization and effectiveness of public cloud computing in the sector of the automotive industry.
So why not dig in and get the answers to certain vital questions related to the use of cloud computing in the automotive industry. Keep reading!
But first…
What is Cloud Computing?
In general cloud computing is the nomenclature for carrying out hosted services over the Internet. The three main categories of services that come under the domain of cloud computing are infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Software as a service (SaaS). Know that a cloud could be both private and public.
Talking about a private cloud, it could either be a data center or a proprietary network that provides services to a restricted number of people with only certain permissions and access granted to the users.
Be it private cloud computing or public cloud computing, the main goal of this technological advancement is to provide effective and scalable IT resources to businesses.
The cloud infrastructure is inclusive of both software and hardware components which are essential for the implementation of the cloud computing model. Interestingly, the name cloud computing was coined by taking inspiration from the cloud icon which often appears in the diagrams or flowcharts for representing the Internet.
Did you know?
It is estimated that in the year 2022, the market for automotive cloud-based solutions, at a CAGR of 19.88%, could touch USD 66.95 billion in terms of revenue. In terms of region, Asia Pacific is expected to show the fastest growth, which is followed by Europe and North America.
Applications of Smart Automotive Cloud-Based Solutions
The automotive cloud is a platform specifically designed to cater to the needs of the automotive industry. With the use of cloud computing in vehicles, the owners would not have to purchase a new car model as the cars would be capable of updating their software.
Here are a few cloud computing applications in the field of the automotive industry that one should definitely be aware of.
Connected vehicles
Any bus truck or car could be known as a connected vehicle if that can connect to the available devices nearby, over the Internet. Connected vehicles are built on the Internet of Things technology which makes them capable of connecting to the devices of the passengers, downloading upgraded versions of software, and collecting and sending the vehicle’s data.
This technology helps in enhancing the overall driving experience by proceeding with the events and communication accordingly.
To put it differently, with connected vehicles technology buses, trucks, and cars are able to communicate with other potential vehicles and share data and information about mobility and safety.
Since this technology needs to share huge amounts of data which comes with the storing and accessing of that data like the information about the vehicle and its surroundings, it requires an equally large storage space which is the cloud.
With the help of cloud platforms of the connected vehicles, the drivers can check the status of the vehicle, distances safely for driving, the current conditions of traffic, weather changes, and more.
Autonomous cars
This one application is booming presently. A self-driving car or an autonomous car is the one that automatically drives itself by taking a sense of its environment.
These specific types of cars do not require any human drivers and use difficult algorithms, cameras functioning 360 degrees, and sensors to drive themselves.
Though this technology is yet to be completely advanced the ones working on it are trying to reduce road accidents and congestion because the number of self-driving cars on the roads is increasing exponentially.
To enhance the functionality of the vehicle cloud computing services are widely being used in the field of autonomous cars.
Also, without cloud computing solutions in the field of automotive industries, the existence of autonomous cars would not have been a possibility. It is because vehicles like cars have huge memory loads on board and self-driving cars have many cameras, sensors, and radars.
Hence, autonomous cars require high computing power and bigger online storage which can easily be provided by a cloud.
Electric vehicles
An EV or electric vehicle, instead of using a combustion engine that works on fuel use electric motors that run on electric power Which makes them more environmentally-friendly. Presently, a lot of electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries because their energy retaining capacity is more, and also, they are long-lasting.
Electric vehicles do require smart charging stations for recharging their batteries. All these smart stations have sensors that are cloud-connected and computer processors which access data for the optimal distribution and consumption of energy.
The use of a cloud network solution in electric vehicles allows the driver to know about the road and weather conditions by exchanging data with the located data centers.
Also Read: What is Public Cloud
Importance & Benefits of Cloud Network Solution
With the COVID-19 pandemic having a dire impact on industry and the consistently changing environment, the necessity of the cloud has surely been magnified and its usage has become more crucial than before.
To be in the run with the current industry challenges and trends the automotive businesses are choosing cloud computing services for:
Reduction in costs
The most talked-about benefit that cloud network solution offers are in terms of maintenance. The on-premise hardware is high in cost because of Labor, power usage, and consistent activity of maintenance.
However, with the use of a cloud environment, all these responsibilities are on the service provider which eventually cuts down the cost of maintenance.
The public cloud pricing is less compared to the pricing of managing on-premise infrastructure and it is the responsibility of your cloud network solution providers to keep the system updated by monitoring it regularly for the smooth running of the business. Also, in a cloud environment, you only pay for what you use.
Complicated infrastructure
The automotive industry involves complex operations that can be both technical and non-technical. Combining analytics, greater engineering work, and huge networks of dealers, the automotive industry needs business continuity which comes from scalability, and also it requires good infrastructural support.
In addition to that, there might be a requirement for extra resources and storage and restricted time to execute the operations, which is very well handled by a cloud platform environment.
Better collaboration
in the automotive industry, a lot of communication happens both internally and externally by the producers with other distributors and manufacturers.
Because different organizations can have varied ways of establishing business-to-business communication, at times it becomes a cumbersome task to carry out collaboration in the automotive field.
But with cloud platforms, different businesses can collaborate with their peers over a single platform. Since the cloud platform has its collaborative tools, you do not have to worry about developing your tools for collaboration.
Safety and risks
Since the cloud network solution providers are consistent with monitoring and availability, the cloud surely has a security advantage because it reduces the risk of breakdowns and failures to a considerable extent.
Also, because of the regular backing up of data, it is ensured that any important information is not lost if a sudden breakdown occurs. Along with that, the experts in the cloud do frequent system trials to be in the running of meeting the evolving demands of the users.
Performance of system
Services of GPS and infotainment systems do require a consistent flow of data and an undisturbed service of the network. and, there is extensive research being performed on the aspect of making the vehicle smart and running it on machine intelligence.
All these mentioned technologies need undisturbed services, continuous flow of information, and swift system actions which are what the cloud is pretty good at.
Secured environment
One of the key features of public cloud computing is the safety of data. The providers of cloud computing services ensure this by doing frequent backup checks, thereby reducing the loss of data under a failure.
Hence a cloud platform environment saves your pocket from burning cash because of a crucial breakdown of the system.
But, how to begin with it?
It is imperative for the automotive industry to bring in scalability in the use of clouds but it is also equally important to do it adequately. One way of approaching the cloud migration could be the optimization and modernization of the current legacy scenario.
This helps in making available the existing resources which in turn lets the organization focus on the core areas of customer experience and IT transformation.
Also Read: Hybrid Cloud vs Multi Cloud – Which One is Right for You?
Wrapping up!
We should know that in terms of the automotive industry the potential future is already present. The automakers and manufacturers who want to discover the landscape of growth in the industry should consider migrating to cloud platforms as soon as possible so that the benefits of having cloud technology are availed in 2022 and further.
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